Object counting system for high volume traffic

ABSTRACT

A system may be configured to perform object counting in high volume traffic. In some aspects, the system may determine object detection information defining an absence of an object within the region of interest in a current video frame, and determine that a location associated with the object is within a placeholder-eligible area within the region of interest based on first tracker information determined in a previous video frame. Further, the system may determine second tracker information including a bounding representation for the object based at least in part on the location and object detection information, and determine, based on the second tracker information, an object count representing a number of the objects that have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objects that have exited the region of interest.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/202,032, by Subramanian et al., entitled “Object Counting Systemfor High Volume Traffic,” filed on Mar. 15, 2021, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates generally to object detection systems andobject tracking systems, and more particularly, to methods and systemsfor performing object counting in high volume traffic.

BACKGROUND

Many industries employ multi-object tracking systems in people countingapplications that monitor entry and exit into a controlled area.Typically, multi-object tracking systems employ object detection andobject tracking components that suffer from unsatisfactory performancewhen processing a sub-optimal video stream, e.g., a video stream havinga low frame rate and/or decompressed frame quality. Further, objectdetection inaccuracy and object tracking inaccuracy significantly reduceobject counting accuracy. Additionally, object counting accuracyproblems are exacerbated in high traffic contexts and/or contexts withobjects moving in multiple directions. Accordingly, many multi-objecttracking systems fail to provide accurate counting information and/orrequire costly supplementary systems when employed to monitor peopleentering and leaving a region of interest.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The present disclosure provides systems, apparatuses, and methods forobject counting in high volume traffic. In an aspect, a method forobject counting in high volume traffic may comprise determining, by anobject detection component configured to detect objects within a regionof interest, object detection information defining an absence of anobject within the region of interest in a current video frame;determining, by an object tracking component configured to trackmovement of the objects within the region of interest, that a locationassociated with the object is within a placeholder-eligible area withinthe region of interest based on first tracker information determined ina previous video frame; determining, by the object tracking component,second tracker information including a bounding representation for theobject based at least in part on the location and object detectioninformation; and determining, based on the second tracker information,an object count representing a number of the objects that have enteredthe region of interest and/or a number of the objects that have exitedthe region of interest.

In another aspect a system may comprise a video capture device andobject counting platform comprising a memory storing instructions; andat least one processor couple to the memory and configured by theinstructions to determine, by an object detection component configuredto detect objects within a region of interest, object detectioninformation defining an absence of an object within the region ofinterest in a current video frame; determine, by an object trackingcomponent configured to track movement of the objects within the regionof interest, that a location associated with the object is within aplaceholder-eligible area within the region of interest based on firsttracker information determined in a previous video frame; determine, bythe object tracking component, second tracker information including abounding representation for the object based at least in part on thelocation and object detection information; and determine, based on thesecond tracker information, an object count representing a number of theobjects that have entered the region of interest and/or a number of theobjects that have exited the region of interest.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions that cause a processor to determine, by an object detectioncomponent configured to detect objects within a region of interest,object detection information defining an absence of an object within theregion of interest in a current video frame; determine, by an objecttracking component configured to track movement of the objects withinthe region of interest, that a location associated with the object iswithin a placeholder-eligible area within the region of interest basedon first tracker information determined in a previous video frame;determine, by the object tracking component, second tracker informationincluding a bounding representation for the object based at least inpart on the location and object detection information; and determine,based on the second tracker information, an object count representing anumber of the objects that have entered the region of interest and/or anumber of the objects that have exited the region of interest.

In another aspect, a method for object counting in high volume trafficmay comprise detecting, by an object detection component configured todetect objects within a region of interest, a candidate object withinthe region of interest in a current video frame; determining that thecandidate object is a detected object based at least in part oncomparing an attribute value of the candidate object to historicattribute information determined during a plurality of previous videoframes; determining, by an object tracking component configured to trackmovement of the objects within the region of interest, track informationbased on the detected object; and determining, based on the boundingrepresentation, an object count representing a number of the objectsthat have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objectsthat have exited the region of interest.

In another aspect a system may comprise a video capture device andobject counting platform comprising a memory storing instructions; andat least one processor couple to the memory and configured by theinstructions to determine, by an object detection component configuredto detect objects within a region of interest, a candidate object withinthe region of interest in a current video frame; determine that thecandidate object is a detected object based at least in part oncomparing an attribute value of the candidate object to historicattribute information determined during a plurality of previous videoframes; determine, by an object tracking component configured to trackmovement of the objects within the region of interest, track informationbased on the detected object; and determine, based on the boundingrepresentation, an object count representing a number of the objectsthat have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objectsthat have exited the region of interest.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions that cause a processor to determine, by an object detectioncomponent configured to detect objects within a region of interest, acandidate object within the region of interest in a current video frame;determine that the candidate object is a detected object based at leastin part on comparing an attribute value of the candidate object tohistoric attribute information determined during a plurality of previousvideo frames; determine, by an object tracking component configured totrack movement of the objects within the region of interest, trackinformation based on the detected object; and determine, based on thebounding representation, an object count representing a number of theobjects that have entered the region of interest and/or a number of theobjects that have exited the region of interest.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit thedisclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like elements, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system for object countingin high volume traffic, according to some implementations.

FIG. 2A illustrates a first example of object detection, according tosome implementations.

FIG. 2B illustrates a second example of object detection, according tosome implementations.

FIG. 2C illustrates a third example of object detection, according tosome implementations.

FIG. 3A illustrates a first example object tracking, according to someimplementations.

FIG. 3B illustrates a second example object tracking, according to someimplementations.

FIG. 3C illustrates a third example object tracking, according to someimplementations.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a first example method of object counting inhigh volume traffic, according to some implementations.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a second example method of object countingin high volume traffic, according to some implementations.

FIG. 6 is block diagram of an example of a computer device configured toimplement object counting in high volume traffic, according to someimplementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well known components may be shown in blockdiagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Implementations of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, andapparatuses that provide object counting in high volume traffic. As usedherein, in some aspects, “high-volume” may refer to the movement of alarge number of people and/or objects. These systems, methods, andapparatuses will be described in the following detailed description andillustrated in the accompanying drawings by various modules, blocks,components, circuits, processes, algorithms, among other examples(collectively referred to as “elements”). These elements may beimplemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or anycombination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardwareor software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. By way of example, anelement, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elementsmay be implemented as a “processing system” that includes one or moreprocessors. Examples of processors include microprocessors,microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processingunits (CPUs), and other suitable hardware configured to perform thevarious functionality described throughout this disclosure. One or moreprocessors in the processing system may execute software. Software shallbe construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, codesegments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components,applications, software applications, software packages, routines,subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures,functions, among other examples, whether referred to as software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, orotherwise. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on orencoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readablemedium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media, whichmay be referred to as non-transitory computer-readable media.Non-transitory computer-readable media may exclude transitory signals.Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can include a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices,combinations of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, orany other medium that can be used to store computer executable code inthe form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by acomputer.

In some implementations, one or more problems solved by the presentsolution is inaccurate object counting in high volume traffic. Forexample, this present disclosure describes systems and methods forreducing false positives output by an object detection component byfiltering candidate objects having an attribute value that significantlydiffers from a running average of the attribute value forpreviously-detected objects. Additionally, or alternatively, thispresent disclosure further describes systems and methods for reducingcounting inaccuracy introduced by the use of placeholder boundingrepresentations by restricting the use of placeholder boundingrepresentations to areas unlikely to cause object identifier assignmenterrors. The present solution provides improved accuracy for objectcounting in high volume traffic contexts that have frustratedtraditional object tracking systems without requiring reinstallation orreconfiguration of the video capture device.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one non-limiting aspect, a system 100 may beconfigured to perform object counting in high volume traffic in acontrolled area 102. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the controlled area 102may include one or more ingress/egress areas 104(1)-(N). Further, insome aspects, the system 100 may include one or more of video capturedevices 106(1)-(N), a monitoring platform 108, sensors and systems 110,and a communication network 112. In some instances, the sensor andsystems 110 may include one or detection systems (e.g., an electronicarticle surveillance system). Further, the video capture device 106, themonitoring platform 108, and the sensors and systems 110 may communicatevia the communication network 112. In some implementations, thecommunication network 112 may include one or more of a wired and/orwireless private network, personal area network, local area network,wide area network, or the Internet.

In some aspects, the video capture devices 106(1)-(N) may be configuredto capture two or more video frames 114(1)-(N) of activity within theingress/egress areas 104(1)-(N). For instance, the video capture device106(1) may capture activity of the persons 116(1)-(N) in the videoframes 114(1)-(N), and send the video frames 114(1)-(N) to themonitoring platform 108 via the communication network 112. In someexamples, the controlled area 102 may be a retail environment and thepersons 116(1)-(N) may be patrons entering and exiting the controlledarea 102. Although FIG. 1 illustrates one video capture device 106(1)within the ingress/egress area 104(1), in some other implementationseach ingress/egress area 104(1) may include any number of video capturedevices 106.

In some aspects, the monitoring platform 108 may be configured tomonitor the number of the persons 116(1)-(N) entering and exiting thecontrolled area 102. For example, the monitoring platform 108 may beconfigured to receive the video frames 114(1)-(N) from the video capturedevice 106(1), and determine count information 118 representing thenumber of persons 116(1)-(N) that have entered and exited the controlledarea 102 via the ingress/egress areas 104(1)-(N) over a predefinedperiod of time. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the monitoring platform 108may include an object detection component 120, an object trackingcomponent 122, and a presentation component 124.

The object detection component 120 may be configured to detect objects(e.g., the persons 116(1)-(N) in the ingress/egress areas 104(1)-(N)within the video frames 114(1)-(N), and generate object detectioninformation 126 corresponding to the objects detected within the videoframes 114(1)-(N). In some aspects, the object detection component 120may employ one or more machine learning models (e.g., a convolutionneural network) to determine the detected objects 128(1)-(N) within thevideo frames 114(1)-(N). Further, in some aspects, the object detectioninformation 126 may include a bounding representation (e.g., a boundingbox), a predicted class, i.e., type of object (e.g., person or article),and confidence score for each of the detected objects 128(1)-(N). Asused herein, in some aspects, the “confidence score” may represent thelikelihood that a detected object 128 belongs to the predicted class. Insome aspects, the object detection component 120 may employ a machinelearning model to determine the confidence value, and determine thepredicted class based at least in part on the confidence value beinggreater than a threshold amount or higher than another confidence valueassociated with a different class. Further, in some aspects, the objectdetection component 120 may be determine historic attribute information128 for the detected objects 128(1)-(N) in each video frame 114. Forexample, the historic attribute information 130 may include an averageof an attribute of the detected objects 128(1)-(N). For instance, thehistoric attribute information 130 may include an average of the area ofthe bounding representations of the detected objects 128(1)-(N).Further, in some aspects, the average may be a weighted average thatapplies a greater weight to the detected objects 128 detected in morerecent video frames 114. For example, the object detection component mayapply a first weight to the value of an attribute of a detected object128(1) detected in a first video frame, and a second larger weight tothe value of the attribute of a detected object 128(1) detected in themore recently-capture video frame 114(8). Further, in some aspects, theaverage may be exponentially weighted. Some other examples of attributesmay be landmarks and/or features detected within the boundingrepresentations of the previously-detected objects, and/or based uponlandmarks and/or features detected within the bounding representationsof the previously-detected objects.

In addition, in some aspects, the object detection component 120 maydetect candidate objects 132 in the ingress/egress areas 104(1)-(N)within the video frames 114(1)-(N). As used herein, in some aspects, a“candidate object” may refer to an area within a video frame thatpotentially includes an object of a class being detected by an objectiondetection component. Further, as illustrated herein with respect toFIGS. 2A-2C, the object detection component 120 may determine that acandidate object 132 is a detected object 128 by determining anattribute value of the candidate object 132, and comparing thedetermined attribute value to the historic attribute information 130.For instance, if the area of the bounding representation of thecandidate object 132 is within a threshold difference of an average sizeof bounding representations for the class of the candidate object 132,the object detection component 120 may consider the candidate object 132to be a detected object 128. In some aspects, the threshold differencemay be two standard deviations. Further, in some aspects, the objectdetection component 120 may consider the candidate object 132 to be adetected object 128 when the attribute value is within the thresholddifference and the confidence value is above a predefined threshold.Accordingly, the object detection component 120 may reduce theprobability of false positives by filtering out anomalous candidateobjects 132 having one or attributes dissimilar from the historicattribute information 130 corresponding to previously-detected objects128, and mostly likely belonging to a class or type of objects not ofinterest to the objection detection component.

The object tracking component 122 may be configured to generate trackinginformation 134 indicating the trajectory of the detected objects128(1)-(N) over the video frames 114(1)-(N) using machine learningmodels and/or pattern recognition techniques. In particular, the objecttracking component 122 may receive at least the bounding representationsof the detected objects 128(1)-(N) from the object detection component120 for each frame 114, and determine if the bounding representations ofa current video frame 114 have corresponding bounding representations inone of the preceding video frames 114. In some instances, the objecttracking component 122 may employ the predicted class information andconfidence score information to determine if a current boundingrepresentation has a corresponding historic bounding representation.Further, the object tracking component 122 may assign object identifiersto the detection objects 128(1)-(N) within the tracking information 134.For instance, if the object tracking component 122 determines that acurrent bounding representation has a corresponding historic boundingrepresentation, the object tracking component 122 assigns the objectidentifier of the corresponding historic bounding representation to thecurrent bounding representation. If the object tracking component 122determines that a current bounding representation does not have acorresponding historic bounding representation in the preceding videoframes 114, the object tracking component 122 assigns a new objectidentifier to the current bounding representation. Further, the objecttracking component 122 may generate tracks corresponding to thetrajectory of the detected objects 128(1)-(N) across the video frames114(1)-(N) based on the assigned object identifiers. For example, atrack may correspond to a trajectory connecting all of the boundingrepresentations assigned to the same object identifier.

Further, in some aspects, the object tracking component 122 may beconfigured to generate placeholder representations 136(1)-(N) based onthe tracking information 134 and the video frames 114(1)-(N). As usedherein, in some aspects, a “placeholder representation” may refer to anarea within a particular video frame that the object detection component120 has determined does not includes an object and the object trackingcomponent 122 has determined may potentially include an object based onthe tracking information 134 corresponding to the one or more videoframes preceding the particular video frame. The placeholderrepresentations 136(1)-(N) may be used by the object tracking component122 to track the trajectory of a detected object 128 even when theobject detection component 120 fails to detect the detected object 128in one or more of the video frames 114. For example, an object detectedin a first video frame 114 may be obstructed in a second video frame114, and thus undetected by the object detection component 120 in thesecond video frame 114. In some aspects, the object tracking component122 may generate a placeholder representation 136 based upon thelocation and/or trajectory of a detected object 128 in one or moreprevious video frames 114. For example, if the object tracking component122 predicts that a detected object 128 will be present in one or moresubsequent video frames 114 or present within the ingress/egress area104 for a particular amount of time, the object tracking component 122may generate a placeholder representation 136 for the detected object128 within the one or more subsequent video frames 114 or the videoframes 114 captured by the video capture device 106 within theparticular amount of time. Consequently, the object tracking component122 may use a placeholder representation 136 to fill in a gap of a trackfor a detected object 128. In some aspects, the object trackingcomponent 122 may limit the use of a placeholder representation 136 fora particular object to a predefined amount video frames or a predefinedamount of time. For example, if the object tracking component 122generates a placeholder representation 136(1) for a particular detectedobject 128(1) based upon the object detection component 120 failing todetect the detected object 128 in the video frame 114(3), the objecttracking component 122 may continue to generate the placeholderrepresentation 136(1) even if the object detection component 120 doesnot detect an object to associated with the placeholder representation136(1) for up to 10 video frames 114 or up to two seconds.

While the use of placeholder representations works well for addressingocclusion contexts (e.g., a person walking behind a physical structureor another person within a region of interest), it may cause problemswhen used on the boundaries of a region of interest of a video frame114. As used herein, a “region of interest” may refer to an area withina video frame that that will be considered for object counting. As anexample, in some aspects, employing a placeholder representation inproximity to an edge of a region of interest of a video frame 114 mayincrease the possibility of an object identifier of an object (e.g., aperson) leaving the region of interest being reused for an object (e.g.,another person) entering the region of interest in a nearby location,thereby causing a false negative at the object tracking phase.

Accordingly, in some aspects, the object tracking component 122 maydetermine whether to generate a placeholder representation 136 basedupon a location of a candidate placeholder location within a region ofinterest of a video frame 114. In particular, if the candidateplaceholder representation would be located within aplaceholder-eligible area of the region of interest, the object trackingcomponent 122 may generate a placeholder representation 136 and assignthe placeholder representation 136 the object identifier of thecorresponding detected object 128. In some aspects, theplaceholder-eligible area may be an inner area of the region of interestof the video frames 114, and the non-placeholder-eligible area may be amargin, border or boundary of the region of interest of the video framesor one or more other locations of the ingress/egress areas 104associated with activity that may cause object identifier reuse or falsepositives. In some aspects, the region of interest, theplaceholder-eligible area, and non-placeholder-eligible area may beuniform across all video frames 114 captured at the same video capturedevice 106.

Further, the object tracking component 122 may update the countinformation 118 based upon the tracks of the tracking information 134.In particular, the object tracking component 122 may increment a valuerepresenting patrons that have entered the controlled area 102 or avalue representing patrons that have exited the controlled area 102based upon a magnitude and direction of a track. For example, if amagnitude (e.g., length) of a track is above a predefined threshold andthe direction of the track is away from a door within the ingress/egressarea 104(1), the object tracking component 122 may increment the valuerepresenting patrons that have entered the controlled area 102. Asanother example, if a magnitude of a track is above a predefinedthreshold and the direction of the track is towards a door within theingress/egress area 104(1), the object tracking component 122 mayincrement the value representing patrons that have exited the controlledarea 102. Additionally, the number of patrons within the controlled area102 may be determined from the difference between the value representingpatrons that have entered the controlled area 102 and the valuerepresenting patrons that have exited the controlled area 102.Alternatively, in some aspects, the object tracking component 122 mayincrement or decrement a value representing patrons currently in thecontrolled area 102 based upon a magnitude and direction of a track. Forexample, if a magnitude of a track is above a predefined threshold andthe direction of the track is towards a door within the ingress/egressarea 104(1), the object tracking component 122 may decrement the valuerepresenting patrons that currently within the controlled area 102.

Further, the presentation component 124 may be configured to display thecount information 118 within a graphical user interface (GUI). Forexample, the presentation component 124 may be configured to causedisplay of the count information 118 within a GUI on a display of themonitoring platform 108 and/or a display of a client device of themonitoring platform 108.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate examples 200-204 of object detection in an objectcounting system for high volume traffic, according to someimplementations. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, generate boundingrepresentations (bounding rep.) 206-212 corresponding to the detectedobjects 128(1)-(4) in video frame 114(1), respectively. Additionally, asillustrated in FIG. 2B, the object detection component 120 may generatebounding representations 214-218 corresponding to the detected objects128(5)-(6) in video frame 114(2), respectively. Further, the objectdetection component 120 may maintain a value representing an attributeof the detected objects 128(1)-(6). For example, the object detectioncomponent 120 may determine an average of the area of the detectedobjects 128(1)-(6).

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 2C, the object detection component120 may generate bounding representations 220-222 corresponding tocandidate objects 132(1)-(2) in the video frame 114(3). Further, asdescribed in detail herein, the object detection component 120 maycompare the area of each of the candidate objects 132(1)-(2) to theaverage area of the bounding representations 206-222. For instance, theobject detection component 120 may determine that the candidate object132(1) is a detected object 128 based on the difference between the areaof the bounding representation 220 and the average area of the boundingrepresentations 206-218 being less than a predefined threshold, anddetermine that the candidate object 132(2) does not belong to the classof detected objects 128 based on the difference between the area of thebounding representation 222 and the average area of the boundingrepresentations 206-218 being greater than the predefined threshold.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrates examples 300-304 of object tracking in an objectcounting system for high volume traffic, according to someimplementations. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the object detectioncomponent 120 and the object tracking component 122 may detect and trackthe first object 306 (e.g., detected object 128(1)) and the secondobject 308 (e.g., detected object 128(2)) within the region of interest310 of the video frame 114(4). In particular, the object trackingcomponent 122 may generate the first bounding representation 312 and thesecond bounding representation 314 for the first object 306 and thesecond object 308, respectively, based at least in part on the detectionof the first object 306 and the second object 308 by the objectdetection component 120. Although FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate merely twoobjects by way of example, the object detection component 120 and theobject tracking component 122 may detect and track any number ofobjects, and a plurality of object classes.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the object detection component120 may fail to detect the first object 306 and the second object 308 inthe video frame 114(5). Further, the object detection component 120 maydetermine whether to generate placeholder representations for the firstbounding representation 312 and the second bounding representation 314.As described in detail herein, the object tracking component maygenerate a placeholder representation 316 for the second boundingrepresentation 314 based on the location of the second boundingrepresentation 314 within the video frame 114(4). In particular, theobject tracking component 122 may generate the placeholderrepresentation 316 (e.g., the placeholder representation 136(1)) for thesecond bounding representation 314 based on the second boundingrepresentation 314 being located within a placeholder-eligible area 318of the region of interest 310. Further, the object tracking component122 may not generate a placeholder representation for the first boundingrepresentation 312 based on the first bounding representation 312 beinglocated outside of the placeholder-eligible area 318 (e.g., the margin)of the region of interest 310.

As illustrated in FIG. 3C, the object tracking component 122 may use thebounding representations and/or placeholder representations 320corresponding to an object (e.g., the second object 308) to generate atrack 322 representing the trajectory of a detected object within theregion of interest 310. In some examples, the object tracking component122 may determine a motion vector between the bounding representationsand/or place holder representations 320 for the object in twoconsecutive video frames 114, and the track 322 may be the sum of themotion vectors. Further, each of the bounding representations and/orplaceholder representations 320 of the track 322 may correspond to alocation associated with the detected object in a video frame 114.Further, the magnitude and direction of the track 322 may be used tocount objects within the region of interest 310. For example, if amagnitude of the track 322 is above a predefined threshold and thedirection of the track is in a first direction within the region ofinterest 310, the object tracking component 122 may increment the valuerepresenting patrons that have entered the controlled area 102. Asanother example, if a magnitude of the track 322 is above a predefinedthreshold and the direction of the track is in a second direction withinthe region of interest 310, the object tracking component 122 mayincrement the value representing patrons that have exited the controlledarea 102.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in operation, the monitoring platform 108 orcomputing device 600 may perform an example method 400 for objectcounting in high traffic volume. The method 400 may be performed by oneor more components of the monitoring platform 108, the computing device600, or any device/component described herein according to thetechniques described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A-2C, and 3A-3C.

At block 402, the method 400 includes detecting, by an object detectioncomponent configured to detect objects within a region of interest, acandidate object within the region of interest in a current video frame.For example, the monitoring platform 108 may receive a video frame114(4) from the video capture device 106, and the object detectioncomponent 120 may identify a candidate object 132(2) within a region ofinterest of the video frame 114(4). Accordingly, the monitoring platform108 or the processor 602 executing the object detection component 120may provide means for detecting, by an object detection componentconfigured to detect objects within a region of interest, a candidateobject within the region of interest in a current video frame.

At block 404, the method 400 includes determining that the candidateobject is a detected object based at least in part on comparing anattribute value of the candidate object to historic attributeinformation determined during a plurality of previous video frames. Forexample the object detection component 120 may determine the area of thebounding representation 222 for the candidate object 132(1), and comparethe area of the bounding representation 222 to an average area of thebounding representations 206-218 for the detected objects 128(1)-(7), asstored in the historic attribute information 130. In some aspects, theaverage area may be a weighted average. Further, the object detectioncomponent 120 may determine that the candidate object 132(2) is adetected object 128(8) based upon the area of the boundingrepresentation 222 being within a threshold difference of the averagearea of the bounding representations 206-218. In some aspects, thethreshold difference is two standard deviations. Additionally, theobject detection component 120 may determine that the candidate object132(1) is not a detected object 128(8) based upon the area of thebounding representation 222 being outside of a threshold difference ofthe average area of the bounding representations 206-218. For instance,the candidate object 132(1) may be cellular phone with a boundaryrepresentation much smaller than a boundary representation correspondingto a person or body part of a person. Accordingly, the monitoringplatform 108 or the processor 602 executing the object detectioncomponent 120 may provide means for determining that the candidateobject is a detected object based at least in part on comparing anattribute value of the candidate object to historic attributeinformation determined during a plurality of previous video frames.

At block 406, the method 400 includes determining, by an object trackingcomponent configured to track movement of the objects within the regionof interest, track information based on the detected object. Forinstance, the object tracking component 122 may determine trackinginformation 134 for the detected object 128(8) corresponding to themovement of detected object 128(8) through the ingress/egress area104(1). In some examples, the detected object 128(8) may be a head of aparticular person walking through the ingress/egress area 104(1), andthe object tracking component 122 may associate the detected object128(8) detected in the video frame 114(3) with other detected objectsfrom the previous video frames 114(1)-(2) to determine the track 322representing the movement of the head of the particular person.Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108 or the processor 602 executingthe object tracking component 120 may provide means for determining, byan object tracking component configured to track movement of the objectswithin the region of interest, track information based on the detectedobject.

At block 408, the method 400 includes determining, based on the boundingrepresentation, an object count representing a number of the objectsthat have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objectsthat have exited the region of interest. For example, the objecttracking component 122 may increment the value representing patrons thathave entered the controlled area 102 based on the magnitude of a trackcorresponding to the detected object 128(7) being above a predefinedthreshold and/or the direction of the track being away from a doorwithin the ingress/egress area 104(1). As another example, the objecttracking component 122 may increment the value representing patrons thathave exited the controlled area 102 based on the magnitude of a trackcorresponding to the detected object 128(7) being above a predefinedthreshold and/or the direction of the track being towards a door withinthe ingress/egress area 104(1). Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108or the processor 602 executing the object tracking component 122 mayprovide means for determining, based on the bounding representation, anobject count representing a number of the objects that have entered theregion of interest and/or a number of the objects that have exited theregion of interest.

In an alternative or additional aspect, the candidate object may be afirst candidate object, the detected object may be a first detectedobject, and the method 500 comprises detecting, by the object detectioncomponent, a second candidate object within the region of interest inthe current video frame, and determining that the second candidateobject is not a second detected object based at least in part oncomparing an attribute value of the second candidate object to thehistoric attribute information, wherein determining the object countcomprises determining the object count without using the secondcandidate object. Further, in examples where the monitoring platform 108detects multiple types of objects, the method 500 may comprise comparingeach candidate object to an attribute value specific to the object-classof the candidate object.

Referring to FIG. 5 , in operation, the monitoring platform 108 orcomputing device 600 may perform an example method 500 for objectcounting in high traffic volume. The method 500 may be performed by oneor more components of the monitoring platform 108, the computing device600, or any device/component described herein according to thetechniques described with reference to FIGS. 1-3 .

At block 502, the method 500 includes determining, by an objectdetection component configured to detect objects within a region ofinterest, object detection information defining an absence of an objectwithin the region of interest in a current video frame. For example, themonitoring platform 108 may receive a video frame 114(5) from the videocapture device 106, and the object detection component 120 may fail todetect the detected object 128(1) within a region of interest of thevideo frame 114(5). Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108 or theprocessor 602 executing the object detection component 120 may providemeans for determining, by an object detection component configured todetect objects within a region of interest, object detection informationdefining an absence of an object within the region of interest in acurrent video frame.

At block 504, the method 500 includes determining, by an object trackingcomponent configured to track movement of the objects within the regionof interest, that a location associated with the object is within aplaceholder-eligible area within the region of interest based on firsttracker information determined in a previous video frame. For example,the object tracking component 122 may predict that the second object 308will be present in the video frame 114(5) based upon a location and/ortrajectory of the second object 308 in the video frames 114(1)-114(4).Further, the object tracking component 122 may determine that thelocation is within a placeholder-eligible area 318 of the region ofinterest 310. Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108 or the processor602 executing the object tracking component 122 may provide means fordetermining, by an object tracking component configured to trackmovement of the objects within the region of interest, that a locationassociated with the object is within a placeholder-eligible area withinthe region of interest based on first tracker information determined ina previous video frame.

At block 506, the method 500 includes determining, by the objecttracking component, second tracker information including a boundingrepresentation for the object based at least in part on the location andobject detection information. For example, the object tracking component122 may generate a placeholder representation 316 corresponding to thedetected object 128(1) for the video frame 114(5). In addition, theobject tracking component 122 may generate the track 322 correspondingto the trajectory of the second object 308 based upon the placeholderrepresentation 316. Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108 or theprocessor 602 executing the object tracking component 122 may providemeans for determining, by the object tracking component, second trackerinformation including a bounding representation for the object based atleast in part on the location and object detection information.

At block 508, the method 500 includes determining, based on the secondtracker information, an object count representing a number of theobjects that have entered the region of interest and/or a number of theobjects that have exited the region of interest. For example, the objecttracking component 122 may increment the value representing patrons thathave entered the controlled area 102 based on the magnitude of the track322 corresponding to the second object 308, and including theplaceholder representation 316, being above a predefined threshold andthe direction of the track 322 being away from a door within theingress/egress area 104(1). As another example, the object trackingcomponent 122 may increment the value representing patrons that haveexited the controlled area 102 based on the magnitude of the track 322corresponding to the second object 308, and including the placeholderrepresentation 316), being above a predefined threshold and thedirection of the track being towards a door within the ingress/egressarea 104(1). Accordingly, the monitoring platform 108 or the processor602 executing the object tracking component 122 may provide means fordetermining, based on the second tracker information, an object countrepresenting a number of the objects that have entered the region ofinterest and/or a number of the objects that have exited the region ofinterest.

In an alternative or additional aspect, in order to determine that thelocation associated with the object is within the placeholder-eligiblearea, the method 500 comprises determining that the location associatedwith the object is not within a margin area of the region of interest.In an alternative or additional aspect, the object may be a firstobject, the object count may be an original object count, the objectdetection information may be first object detection information, and themethod 500 comprises determining, by the object detection component,second object detection information defining a presence of a secondobject within the region of interest in a subsequent video frame,determining, by the object tracker component based on the second objectdetection information and the second tracker information, third trackerinformation representing that a second bounding representationcorresponds to the first object and the second object, and determiningan updated object count based on the third tracker information.

In an alternative or additional aspect, wherein the location may be afirst location, the object detection information may be first objectdetection information, the object may be a first object, the previousvideo frame may be a first previous video frame, and the method 500comprises determining, by the object detection component, second objectdetection information defining an absence of a second object within theregion of interest of the current video frame, and determining, by theobject tracker component, that a second location associated with thesecond object is not located within the placeholder-eligible area withinthe region of interest based on third tracker information determined ina second previous video frame, wherein determining the second trackerinformation comprises determining, by the object detection component,the second object detection information without a second boundingrepresentation for the second object based at least in part on thesecond location and the second object detection information.

In an alternative or additional aspect, the bounding representation maybe associated with an object identifier, a class, the location, and/or atrajectory associated with a plurality of other bounding representationsof the object. In an alternative or additional aspect, the previousvideo frame is less than a predefined amount of frames or amount of timebefore the current video frame.

Although FIGS. 1-5 are discussed with respect to detecting and trackingthe patrons 112(1)-(N), in some other implementations the system 100 mayperform enhanced detection and tracking as described in detail hereinwith respect to the other objects, or the patrons 112(1)-(N) and otherobjects.

Referring to FIG. 6 , a computing device 600 may implement all or aportion of the functionality described herein. The computing device 600may be or may include or may be configured to implement thefunctionality of at least a portion of the system 100, or any componenttherein. For example, the computing device 600 may be or may include ormay be configured to implement the functionality of the plurality of thevideo capture devices 106 and/or the monitoring platform 108. Thecomputing device 600 includes a processor 602 which may be configured toexecute or implement software, hardware, and/or firmware modules thatperform any functionality described herein. For example, the processor602 may be configured to execute or implement software, hardware, and/orfirmware modules that perform any functionality described herein withreference to the, the object detection component 120, the objecttracking component 122, the presentation component 124, or any othercomponent/system/device described herein.

The processor 602 may be a micro-controller, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or may include a single ormultiple set of processors or multi-core processors. Moreover, theprocessor 602 may be implemented as an integrated processing systemand/or a distributed processing system. The computing device 600 mayfurther include a memory 604, such as for storing local versions ofapplications being executed by the processor 602, related instructions,parameters, etc. The memory 604 may include a type of memory usable by acomputer, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM),tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatilememory, and any combination thereof. Additionally, the processor 602 andthe memory 604 may include and execute an operating system executing onthe processor 602, one or more applications, display drivers, and/orother components of the computing device 600.

Further, the computing device 600 may include a communications component606 that provides for establishing and maintaining communications withone or more other devices, parties, entities, etc. utilizing hardware,software, and services. The communications component 606 may carrycommunications between components on the computing device 600, as wellas between the computing device 600 and external devices, such asdevices located across a communications network and/or devices seriallyor locally connected to the computing device 600. In an aspect, forexample, the communications component 606 may include one or more buses,and may further include transmit chain components and receive chaincomponents associated with a wireless or wired transmitter and receiver,respectively, operable for interfacing with external devices.

Additionally, the computing device 600 may include a data store 608,which can be any suitable combination of hardware and/or software, thatprovides for mass storage of information, databases, and programs. Forexample, the data store 608 may be or may include a data repository forapplications and/or related parameters not currently being executed byprocessor 602. In addition, the data store 608 may be a data repositoryfor an operating system, application, display driver, etc., executing onthe processor 602, and/or one or more other components of the computingdevice 600.

The computing device 600 may also include a user interface component 610operable to receive inputs from a user of the computing device 600 andfurther operable to generate outputs for presentation to the user (e.g.,via a display interface to a display device). The user interfacecomponent 610 may include one or more input devices, including but notlimited to a keyboard, a number pad, a mouse, a touch-sensitive display,a navigation key, a function key, a microphone, a voice recognitioncomponent, or any other mechanism capable of receiving an input from auser, or any combination thereof. Further, the user interface component610 may include one or more output devices, including but not limited toa display interface, a speaker, a haptic feedback mechanism, a printer,any other mechanism capable of presenting an output to a user, or anycombination thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining a presence of afirst object and a second object within a region of interest in one ormore previous video frames; determining first object detectioninformation defining an absence of the first object within the region ofinterest in a first current video frame; determining that a locationassociated with the first object is within a placeholder-eligible areawithin the region of interest based on first tracker informationdetermined in the one or more previous video frames; determining inresponse to the location associated with the first object being withinthe placeholder-eligible area, second tracker information including afirst bounding representation for the first object based at least inpart on the location and the first object detection information;determining second object detection information defining an absence ofthe second object within the region of interest of a second currentvideo frame; determining that a second location associated with thesecond object is not located within the placeholder-eligible area withinthe region of interest based on third tracker information determined inthe one or more previous video frames, wherein determining the secondtracker information comprises determining that the second trackerinformation does not include a second bounding representation for thesecond object in response to the second location associated with thesecond object not being located within the placeholder-eligible area;and determining, based on the second tracker information including atleast the first bounding representation, but not the second boundingrepresentation, an object count representing a number of the objectsthat have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objectsthat have exited the region of interest.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein determining that the location associated with the first objectis within the placeholder-eligible area comprises determining that thelocation associated with the object is not within a margin area of theregion of interest.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, basedon the second tracker information, the object count comprisesincrementing or decrementing the object count based on a directionand/or magnitude of a trajectory of a plurality of boundingrepresentations, the plurality of bounding representations including thefirst bounding representation.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theobject count is an original object count, and further comprising:determining, third object detection information defining a presence of athird object within the region of interest in a subsequent video frame;determining, based on the third object detection information and thesecond tracker information, fourth tracker information representing thata third bounding representation of the third object corresponds to thefirst object; and determining an updated object count based on thefourth tracker information.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstbounding representation is associated with an object identifier, aclass, the location, and/or a trajectory associated with a plurality ofother bounding representations of the first object.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more previous video frames are less than apredefined amount of frames or amount of time before the first currentvideo frame.
 7. A system comprising: a video capture device; and objectcounting platform comprising: a memory storing instructions thereon; andat least one processor coupled to the memory and configured by theinstructions to: receive video frames from the video capture device;determine a presence of a first object and a second object within aregion of interest in one or more previous video frames; determine firstobject detection information defining an absence of the first objectwithin the region of interest in a first current video frame; determinethat a location associated with the first object is within aplaceholder-eligible area within the region of interest based on firsttracker information determined in the one or more previous video frames;determine in response to the location associated with the first objectbeing within the placeholder-eligible area, second tracker informationincluding a first bounding representation for the first object based atleast in part on the location and the first object detectioninformation; determine second object detection information defining anabsence of the second object within the region of interest of a secondcurrent video frame; determine that a second location associated withthe second object is not located within the placeholder-eligible areawithin the region of interest based on third tracker informationdetermined in the one or more previous video frames; determine that thesecond tracker information does not include a second boundingrepresentation for the second object in response to the second locationassociated with the second object not being located within theplaceholder-eligible area; and determine, based on the second trackerinformation including at least the first bounding representation, butnot the second bounding representation, an object count representing anumber of the objects that have entered the region of interest and/or anumber of the objects that have exited the region of interest.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein to determine that the location associatedwith the first object is within the placeholder-eligible area, the atleast one processor is configured to determine that the locationassociated with the first object is not within a margin area of theregion of interest.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein to determine,based on the second tracker information, the object count, the at leastone processor is configured to increment or decrement the object countbased on a direction and/or magnitude of a trajectory of a plurality ofbounding representations, the plurality of bounding representationsincluding the first bounding representation.
 10. The system of claim 7,wherein the object count is an original object count and the at leastone processor is further configured to: determine third object detectioninformation defining a presence of a third object within the region ofinterest in a subsequent video frame; determine, based on the thirdobject detection information and the second tracker information, fourthtracker information representing that a third bounding representation ofthe third object corresponds to the first object; and determine anupdated object count based on the fourth tracker information.
 11. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the first bounding representation isassociated with an object identifier, a class, the location, and/or atrajectory associated with a plurality of bounding representations ofthe first object.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or moreprevious video frames are less than a predefined amount of frames oramount of time before the first current video frame.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable device having instructions thereonthat, when executed by at least one computing device, causes the atleast one computing device to perform operations comprising: determininga presence of a first object and a second object within a region ofinterest in one or more previous video frames; determining first objectdetection information defining an absence of the first object within theregion of interest in a first current video frame; determining that alocation associated with the first object is within aplaceholder-eligible area within the region of interest based on firsttracker information determined in the one or more previous video frames;determining in response to the location associated with the first objectbeing within the placeholder-eligible area, second tracker informationincluding a first bounding representation for the first object based atleast in part on the location and the first object detectioninformation; determining second object detection information defining anabsence of the second object within the region of interest of a secondcurrent video frame; determining that a second location associated withthe second object is not located within the placeholder-eligible areawithin the region of interest based on third tracker informationdetermined in the one or more previous video frames, wherein determiningthe second tracker information comprises determining that the secondtracker information does not include a second bounding representationfor the second object in response to the second location associated withthe second object not being located within the placeholder-eligiblearea; and determining, based on the second tracker information includingat least the first bounding representation, but not the second boundingrepresentation, an object count representing a number of the objectsthat have entered the region of interest and/or a number of the objectsthat have exited the region of interest.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable device of claim 13, wherein determining that thelocation associated with the first object is within theplaceholder-eligible area comprises determining that the locationassociated with the object is not within a margin area of the region ofinterest.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 13,wherein determining, based on the second tracker information, the objectcount comprises incrementing or decrementing the object count based on adirection and/or magnitude of a trajectory of a plurality of boundingrepresentations, the plurality of bounding representations including thefirst bounding representation.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readabledevice of claim 13, wherein the object count is an original objectcount, and the operations further comprise: determining, third objectdetection information defining a presence of a third object within theregion of interest in a subsequent video frame; determining, based onthe third object detection information and the second trackerinformation, fourth tracker information representing that a thirdbounding representation of the third object corresponds to the firstobject; and determining an updated object count based on the fourthtracker information.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable device ofclaim 13, wherein the first bounding representation is associated withan object identifier, a class, the location, and/or a trajectoryassociated with a plurality of other bounding representations of thefirst object.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim13, wherein the one or more previous video frames are less than apredefined amount of frames or amount of time before the first currentvideo frame.